Chrysopoeia
A visual journey documenting the natural cycles of transformative growth.
Chapter One: Cyclical patterns in nature captivate the senses and inspire narratives that elucidate parallels between our internal and external worlds.
Seasons predictably sculpt our environmental landscape. Flora, fauna, and bodies of water align with the lunar cycle. For every setting sun is the promise of a new day, and the cosmic dust of a dying star will eventually contribute to forming a new one.
What enduring cycles must we yield as humans? How does our internal landscape emulate the terrain we wander? Can we accurately forecast the onset and the outcome of our temperamental weather?
Core – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Echo – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Extant – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Forbearance – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
In 2016, I was finally ready to mindfully examine the cyclical patterns affecting the circumstances of my life. Matt Kennedy, the current curator of La Luz de Jesus Gallery, had generously offered me space in a four-person exhibition, and I chose this opportunity to debut a radically different body of work which became the foundation of Chrysopoeia.
For this first installment of the project, I decided to implement a new medium in order to exchange the comfort of experience for the trepidation of exploration. By adopting oil and acrylic media, I was no longer bound by the predictability of my traditional pen and ink techniques. For the first time in years, I could explore genuine impulse, rather than familiar repetitions.
Forge – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Fortune – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Foundling – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Growth – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
The spirit of Chrysopoeia was aimed at viewing myself through the same nonjudgmental lens of curiosity used to observe my natural surroundings in order to discover what cyclical patterns lay shrouded in my psyche.
The series began as a feverish exploration of vibrant color. This period was filled with hope and promise, but as the intention of my mission solidified, I realized there was more for me to address before processing and understanding the behaviors that informed my waking life.
Eventually the first set of repetitive patterns emerged as waves of crippling anxiety attached to the gravity of my fear. Phantoms then appeared in my paintings, one by one, each bonded to the lies that had subconsciously bullied me throughout my life.
Haunt – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Mirage – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Molten – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Mount – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
It was as if someone had smeared shit stains all over the bright and vibrant pallet I had created to harbor the visual metaphor of my guileless self-discovery.
Some phantoms felt overwhelmed and consumed by their fecal prison; while others appeared to resist their sewage sarcophagus, defiantly sculpting themselves apart from the detritus that composed their form as well as their landscape.
Initially I hated the outcome of this experiment, but years later I realized the importance of this stage. This was the beginning. The first wave. The wave that showed me the severity of my mental and emotional constipation. This overwhelming mass of festering refuse was the door to understanding myself.
I wanted a vibrant rainbow of pristine color to reflect my life, but instead I needed a prescription strength laxative to clear out the shit that had lodged in the bowels of my psyche. The only way for me to accomplish my original goal of self-exploration was to immediately address the obstruction that had hindered me from connecting to my identity.
Notion – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Philo – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Prompt – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Rapture – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 18x24 Inches
Chrysopoeia was originally an Alchemical process defined as the act of transmuting a base metal into gold, but according to a more philosophical approach, Chrysopoeia could be denoted as the act of transforming the base qualities of our psychological nature into more enlightened functions.
As a byproduct of this project, I discovered a crude source of material governing many internal patterns of behavior. It then became my new goal to transform this base material into a source that would imbue the next chapter in my life with a generative foundation.
I came to accept that the process of mental and emotional transformation is not only cyclical in our nature, but it is no less violent or painful than nature's cycles of birth, growth, decay, death, and rebirth.
I now realize that Chrysopoeia is an ongoing project, one that I will continue revisiting in order to document every stage of my transformation over the years. By sharing this journey, I hope that this visual journal will help uncover, inform, and inspire others to initiate their internal voyage.
Ritual – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Sublimate – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Swarm – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 8x10 Inches
Temper – Oil & Acrylic Paint with Bronze Ink, 18x24 Inches